Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters (c) its creator. This story earns no profits and is meant for entertainment purposes only.
Watching the Rain
Nobody knows who I really am,
Maybe they just don't give a damn,
But if I ever need someone to come along,
I know you would follow me, and keep me strong…
-ººº-
It's raining in Reikai.
The sky is dark, as it should be in the night. And instead of indulging in this glorious opportunity to sleep more comfortably than usual…
Someone is awake, breathing in the scent of rain.
How it rains here, I'll never understand. I don't think I want to either.
The drops continue to fall, rattling the roofs with their impacts against the hard surfaces. It's raining pretty hard, but not to the point of cats and dogs, thanks. It's large enough to make the wind howl a little but nothing too frightening. It's an in-between rain, a rain that can't make up its mind.
Someone wonders if anyone else is awake. Probably not. They don't have strange hobbies like watching the rain.
But someone knows that someone else is staying up late tonight. And not because of the rain.
There is a sigh.
He works too hard. Everyone knows that. It's general knowledge in this realm that he worked too hard. It's a huge responsibility, yes and there are thousands of billions of people to sift through. It's no wonder he has to work too hard. He's rejected offers of help, saying he needs to do it by himself. Someone often wonders if it's because of his pride as a guy or because the job really does need his judgement and his time.
Someone thinks it's the former but someone digresses.
He's bad tempered and irritable on the bad. He's egoistic and bratty on good days. And on the better days, he has a tendency to show off.
However, on the bad days, he's still responsible and level headed. On the good days, he is amiable and friendly.
And on the better days… he is a best friend.
And that is all someone can hope for.
To wish for something more is something of an impossible dream, so someone will settle for a best friend. It has been that way for goodness knows how many centuries. But someone is quite content with that.
Someone doesn't really know when this feeling arose… but it definitely arose long before any appearance of brash, dark haired detectives or big-talking, red headed humans… long before the appearance of mild mannered, red haired youko and dangerous, black haired youkais.
Well, whatever it is, it doesn't matter when or where or why even. It has happened and someone accepts it with grace even though she is hundred and twenty percent sure he does not return the feeling.
It doesn't matter. As long as someone can be near and helpful… someone will hover close and make sure he's okay. Even if he eventually falls in love and chooses someone else.
Someone flicks a stray drop of rain away from a cheek.
Silly rain.
All of a sudden, something drops on someone's shoulders. A bluish terrycloth blanket.
Someone looks up in surprise.
"You're going to catch a cold, sitting there on the balcony so near the rain like that."
"Koenma-sama, I thought you were wor-"
The toddler sits beside someone. "I was. Then I noticed it's raining." Someone blinks as the baby turns to her. "And I remembered just who is absurd enough to list rain-watching as one of her hobbies."
Someone chuckles at the memory. "You don't have to join me, Koenma-sama. You're the one who's going to catch a cold."
"My resistance is better than yours, mind you. Even if I have the body of a five-year-old, my health is that of a teenager's. In the peak of health."
Someone grins at that lofty announcement. "Is that why you keep that secret stash of junk food in your drawer, Koenma-sama?"
The tot gives someone a look. "Not a word more or I cut your pay by ten percent."
She grins. "Fair enough, Koenma-sama."
A few more minutes go by as the rain continues to fall. Then someone notices, out of the corner of the eye, that the tot is shivering slightly from the cold wind and rain.
Someone moves to remove the blanket. "Koenma-sama, you need this more than I do."
"Give me the blanket and I will suspend you without pay for two months," is the swift, cutting reply.
Someone frowns at this. That's totally unfair and both of them know it.
"But-"
"Three months."
There is more silence.
Then someone gets a brilliant idea. With a grin, someone promptly lifts the toddler prince and settles him in between the blanket, securing him between two arms. It is not so much a hug, as a lock.
"You left me no choice, Koenma-sama," someone chirpily admits, still with the unrepentant grin on the face.
The toddler is silent, unexpectedly. Then he turns his face a little to look someone in the eye. "You really will go against my orders just for my betterment, won't you?"
Someone is surprised at his lack of yelling protests but nevertheless, answers his question. "…I suppose so, Koenma-sama. That's what I'm here for, right?"
A strange kind of smirk appears on the toddler's face. It seems… rather wistful. "Yes… yes, that's what you're always here for."
Someone frowns in concern. "Koenma-sama, is everything alright? You're acting pretty strange…"
"…" the toddler turns around again to face the rain. "What I mean to say is… thank you."
Someone blinks in surprise. But a smile emerges nonetheless, despite not quite comprehending his strange tone. "You're welcome, Koenma-sama."
And the two continue to watch the rain fall late into the night.
Two and a half months later…
It's raining in Reikai again.
And someone is awake again, watching the crystal drops sail through the air.
No indecisions for the rain tonight. It's a light, friendly drizzle this time. It may end pretty soon unless it's one of those 'long life rains' that last for hours on end at the same pace.
In the meantime though, someone stands, watching the rain and enjoying it. They're pretty, the raindrops and it's nice and cool.
A familiar pressure drops suddenly on a pair of shoulders and someone remembers it instantly. Before someone can say anything though, an unfamiliar feeling surrounds her. A foreign arm surrounds her shoulders.
"K, Koenma-sama?"
The tot someone expected to see is in fact, the grown up, taller version now. He turns to look at her.
"I doubt that in my current state I would fit into your arms."
There seems to be an undercurrent of something in his words but someone is too preoccupied with the fact that the prince of Reikai has one arm around someone's shoulders.
"Koenma-sama, what… what are you…?" Someone doesn't know how to phrase the question someone wants to ask.
But he understands perfectly what someone is trying to say. The prince doesn't smile though his eyes turn softer. "Would you mind if, from now on, I watch the rain with you?"
Confused, someone looks at him, seeking a better explanation in his eyes.
And somehow it is found in those hazel orbs of his. An explanation that seems to say that an impossible dream can occasionally come true.
Someone smiles shakily. "No… no, I don't mind. Not at all, Koenma-sama."
The prince of Reikai has a small smile on his lips as he brushes away a stray drop of rain from someone's cheeks.
Silly rain.
"You know," begins the prince as he presses a kiss to her forehead. "You're always there to take care of me. I just want to return the favour every once in a while. You'll let me, won't you, Botan?"
She smiles widely, leaning into him. "Once in a while, Koenma-sama. Once in a while."
"Fair enough."
And the prince of Reikai and his ferry girl watch the rain continue to fall, in each other's arms, late into the night.
-ººº-
I want you to know who I really am,
I never thought I'd feel this way towards you,
And if you ever need someone to come along,
I will follow you, and keep you strong…
- Life is Like a Boat, Rie Fu.
The End.
Disclaimer: "Life is Like a Boat" also known as the ending song for the anime series, Bleach (c) its writer(s). Sung by Rie Fu.
A/N: Could be a sequel to "Rhythmic Promises" or could be a one-shot on it's own. Either way. Thanks for reading!